MES recognized with prestigious national awards
During the national conference, MES was recognized for constructing its own power generating facility, which helps supply TVA during peak power demands. Rodney Boyd, general manager and CEO of MES, accepted the E.F. Scattergood System Achievement Award on behalf of all MES employees.
Golden was praised for his over 20 years of service with APPA and became the first Tennessean to receive the coveted Spence Vanderlinder Public Official Award.
APPA is a national service organization representing the nation’s more than 2,000 community and state-owned electric utilities. Some 1,500 individuals from across the U.S. attended the recent conference in Nashville.
MES was praised by APPA board chairman Mark Crisson during the ceremony.
“This award recognizes the extraordinary efforts to design, build and bring online a 20 MW generating site in response to a request made by the Tennessee Valley Authority,” said Crisson. “This generation facility assists TVA in meeting peak power demands, and improves service to McMinnville customers. MES accomplished this project, from conception to completion, in less than 10 months. McMinnville’s turnaround for this project, without a rate increase for its customers, is an example of efficiency, reliability, and dedication on behalf of all its employees.”
During Golden’s award presentation, it was noted how his contributions to APPA, and to his community, have enhanced the prestige of public power nationally.
Golden has been an active supporter of APPA for 21 years and served two, three-year terms on the association’s Policy Maker’s Council. He was appointed to the MES Board of Public Utilities in 1981 and was named chairman five years later.
Golden has earned the respect of many national and state legislators for his effective leadership style as he has made several trips to Washington, D.C. and to Nashville as an advocate of public power and its goals.
“It would be my wish that every utility board would have the privilege and opportunity to have a chairman of the likes of Jeffrey Golden,” Boyd said. “He is a quiet but effective leader who believes that MES should be a good corporate citizen, should treat its consumers fairly, and should strive to be the best public power utility in the United States.”